


Arcadia's Angel

by angelhums



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, chloe angst mostly, um there might be sex in it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-03
Updated: 2015-08-03
Packaged: 2018-04-12 16:55:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 1,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4487394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelhums/pseuds/angelhums
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Rachel's disappearance, colors are muted. </p><p>A series of drabbles all about Rachel Amber.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. breakfast

When she's 14, Rachel is like a bird. Chloe watches her maneuver about the kitchen, charming Joyce, and flitting about, light as air. 

Her blonde hair hangs like thin curtains, the light from outside shining through it and making her face look like it's glowing. 

"Your mom is pretty great," Rachel tells her, once Joyce has left for work.

"You're pretty great," Chloe responds, out of instinct, and Rachel takes her hand, sticky with syrup to play with her pale fingers.

Chloe's heart skips a beat, and she has to force herself from admitting that she loves her more than breathing. "Thanks for being my friend." 

"It's my job, isn't it?" Rachel teases, and Chloe whacks her arm lightly with the newspaper. "But I love my job," she whispers, leaning forward to pull Chloe into a tight embrace. 

The thought of losing her is abhorrent.


	2. blue bathtubs

If Chloe said she didn't enjoy Rachel massaging her scalp, she'd be a liar. 

She leans back, watching her best friend's focused expression in the mirror. She's humming something to herself, a song that Chloe doesn't recognize. 

"What's that?"

"This? This is hair dye, grandma. We're making your head blue," Rachel explains in a condescending tone. 

"No. The song, stupid." Rachel reaches around her, lightly touching a blue finger to her nose.

"It's called Santa Monica Dream," she says, then applies more dye to the nape of her neck, making Chloe shiver. 

"Well, I like it," she nods, and Rachel beams. 

"I'll play it for you when we're done here."

Later, while Rachel attacks her hair with the showerhead, Chloe catches her singing the song to herself again. 

"...fifteen kids in the backyard drinking wine..."

Chloe watches the tub get bluer.


	3. a lasting impression

Rachel steps back, and Chloe has to work hard to slow her beating heart. 

"There, now we're twins," Rachel grins, and Chloe looks in the mirror. It's hard for her to tell that the bright pink mark near her collarbone will be similar to the purpling bruise blossoming on Rachel's lean form.

"So you won't tell me who gave you a hickey?" Chloe asks, turning back to her. 

Rachel presses her lips together. "It was nobody, silly."

"You FAKED having a hickey so you could have an excuse to give me one," Chloe says incredulously, and Rachel brightens at the suggestion.

"Yep!" Rachel laughs, hugging her close. 

Later that night, Chloe runs her fingers over the darkening mark and has to suppress giddiness. 

In the same bed, Rachel imagines Frank's scruff against her skin and squeezes Chloe's hand.


	4. bad influences

"Five minutes, okay? You won't even notice I'm gone," she says, and Chloe nods. 

She watches Rachel disappear around the grimy RV, can hear the strong cadence of her voice rising and falling for a few minutes. 

When she returns, she stinks of weed. Chloe's eyes start to widen. 

"Rachel..." 

Rachel holds up the baggie with a smirk, buckling her seatbelt. "It's fine. You'll love it." 

Later, as Chloe smokes her first joint, she admires Rachel through a sea of smoke. "You're beautiful."

"You're high, Price."

"On you," she winks.


	5. perfume

'Three hours. Get baked, order pizza. I just need to go to this party.'   
'Rachel, please,' smeared eyeliner, grasping at ribbons.   
'Trust me. I'll be fine. It's just the Vortex.'  
The ribbons slip, and Chloe watches her slam her truck door shut and jog into the pool building.   
She presses her face against the steering wheel, trying to suffocate the feeling of dread. 

When Rachel doesn't show up that night, or the next morning, she combs through Blackwell, murder in her eyes. She spends days without sleeping as she paces the junkyard, prints posters and gulps strong spirits. 

A month after not seeing her, Chloe finds a bottle of perfume in their hideout. She sprays it on her hand, out of curiosity, then inhales deeply. 

Sweet almonds. Rachel. Rachel. Rachel.

Her heart shatters and so does the bottle as she hurls it against the wall. Immediately, she regrets it, bloodying up her fingers as she tries to grasp at the liquid soaking into the ground. 

"Oh, Rachel," she sighs as she pours vodka on her hands. "Please come back."


	6. posters

As the door slams shut behind her, David's voice booms from the kitchen.

"Where have you been?!"

Chloe starts up the stairs, but he's suddenly right beside her, taller and louder and she just needs him to  _shut up._ The stick of dynamite inside her becomes lit.

"Chloe Elizabeth, do you know what time it is?"

Chloe stares at him blankly, one hand resting on the banister. 

"It's 2am. Your mother was about to call the police! We thought you'd turned into—"

"Oh, what? Like Rachel? Shut the fuck up, I knew what you were gonna say. I was putting up posters, Officer Dickhead. To find my friend. Do you know what those are?" 

David stares down at her, and she watches him cook up a comeback. _Good. Give me a reason, step-shit._

"She's dead, Chloe. You need to let it go." 

The dynamite explodes, and the only way out is through her chapped lips. 

"I wish you died in the war! I wish mom never met you! I want my real father back! He'd understand! Eat shit." She charges up the stairs, and David can hear her crying before her door shuts.


	7. stash

Frank's RV smells like sweat and pizza. 

Rachel opens up a cupboard and discovers about 50 blue sunshine acid tablets. Good. She wants to treat Chloe. She's about to open the door when Frank walks in, his brow furrowed. Pompidou is at his heels, but he doesn't command her to attack. 

"Rachel, why are you STEALING my shit?" Frank asks, staring down at her.

Rachel licks her lower lip. "Because I wanted to get high."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Her shirt is off before Frank can shut the door.


	8. vortex - one

She can tell he likes her. She can tell because while Victoria Chase drones on and on, Nathan Prescott is staring at her ass. 

She knows if she plays her cards right, she can get Chloe and her some money. For Los Angeles. 

She also wants to know what it's like to ride a dick that's worth over a million dollars.

Rachel approaches him, the VIP section filled with the smell of smoke and sex. 

"Hey, Nathan," she says flirtatiously. 

Nathan downs his drink, then stares at her, his eyes trying to focus. "Rachel. Hey."

"Wanna have sex?" 

"Yeah."

"Okay."


	9. vortex - two

She doesn't need to tell Chloe about Nathan. 

He's a fling. However, she does like the way his lips feel when they try to grace every part of her body.

She tries to avoid him, until the next party, when he approaches her with two red solo cups.

"Wanna drink with me?"

"Sure."

Approximately 24 minutes later, Rachel is far more exhausted than she should be. She clings to Nathan's arm as he hauls her across the parking lot.

"I don't feel well," she says, struggling to remain upright. Her head feels so heavy.

"I know. That's why I'm taking you to the hospital."

"Promise you will." She's so tired.

He doesn't respond.


	10. fight

"Chloe, stop!" Rachel grabs at Chloe, trying to get her from driving so recklessly. Chloe growls, trying to push her off. 

"You're going to kill us, Chloe!" Chloe doesn't respond, but Rachel can see tears on her face as her shoulders tremble. She bites her lip and decides to risk the injury.

"Do you want us to die like your father did?"

Rachel nearly gets whiplash from how fast Chloe stops the car. The seatbelt makes it hard to breathe.

"Get out."

"Chloe..."

"Get out!"

**Author's Note:**

> lmao i tried


End file.
